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Friday, August 31, 2012

Thought it was time to make some new patterns. Usually all of my patterns and palettes are pretty vibrant and in your face so I tried my hand at making a few simple and more subdued patterns for some super slick future wallets (and other mega secret products). Obviously the first one didn't turn out so simple and muted but that's ok because it's freaking awesome.

Adventure Party

Triangle Podium

Camping Arrows

Button Style

Rainy Feeling

The last two are fun because they're complementary and they can go together as an outside/lining of a garment or can be used together when sewing quilting pieces. The penultimate pattern Button Style I have been wanting to make for a while. I dig it because the pattern looks like 1" buttons but the illustrations also double as actual 1" buttons that can be used separately or that can go along with the finished product to add a whole new dimension!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Well, I finally updated my tumblr with a sweet new design and I will be constantly uploading super awesome inspiring and crafty photos from my extensive internet image searching to start the spark under your proverbial creative engines. I also added a tumblr link on the right column. Let's get started!

Current:

I collect a lot of images for inspiration, ideas, etc. and for a really long time I had a hard time figuring out how to organize them. I was using iPhoto for a while which was ok because I could divide the images into sections which I would literally fill books with:

But as you can imagine it's super time consuming and costly to print out all of those images and cut and glue each one into a book. So I wanted to find an awesome program/app that would make my life easier. Of course it had to be mac friendly and have an aesthetically pleasing design. I also wanted to be able to not just group them into folders but be able to search within all of the images for specific tags that I would assign. That's when I found SPARKBOX!

Sparkbox is an awesome (free) mac app that makes it super easy to manage your images in a clean image library where you can tag and organize photos to your heart's content. Best of all it let's you search by color!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

As you probably saw in my last post I made a bunch of super neat quilted flags. Some of said flags were made with sewn concentric circles. Sewing perfect circles can be tricky especially is you have no idea where to start. Look no further for I am going to give you a tutorial for making these layered sewn circles!

The best part about making these circles is that you can layer up as many as you want with whatever fabric you want making them easily customizable!

Start with your base fabric which will be the outermost circle. You can use an already finished garment to repurpose or a new piece of fabric, the possibilities are endless!!

Cut a smaller piece of fabric in the same color big enough to fit whatever size circle you want to make with about an inch and a half on the edges. Fold the fabric in half side to side (press the folded center with your finger & unfold) and then top to bottom (repeat) This will give you the exact center of your cut piece.

Draw a circle using a compass for that perfect circle (you have the center so you know exactly where to place your compass point). Remember: the closest to perfect you draw the circle will make it that much easier to achieve a finished perfect circle. I like to serge along the edge of the circle to make sure it won't fray during construction or in the future.

Place the cut and serged circle on top of your original fabric. You can do the fold trick on the original fabric to make sure you place it exactly in the center. Head over to your sewing machine and sew right along the circle line all the way around.

When you're done cut out the middle of the circle 1/4" from the sewn edge using a rotary blade or a scissors.

Using a sharp pair of scissors (all of your scissors should be sharp you crafty sewer!) cut slits all the way around the 1/4" edge to minimize pulling when you rotate the circle (you'll see). The closer to the seam the better, but make sure not to cut your perfectly sewn seam!

Now the fun part! Turn the sewn circle underneath the original fabric to create that finished circle seam. Try to get it as close to the sewn edge as possible and press.

Look at you sewing awesome circles! That wasn't so bad was it?

If you're doing more than one circle, repeat the process you just did in another color (I did yellow). Set aside your first sewn circle and cut out the same 2 pieces again. Make sure your new original piece (yellow) is big enough with extra room to sit underneath your first circle (red).

Draw your circle on your smaller cut piece (yellow) any diameter smaller than the circle you drew on the first circle (red) and serge the edge.

Place the circle in the center of the larger piece and sew around the circle edge. Cut the inside of the circle out and snip the seam allowance and then turn and press the circle. (I know you didn't have to read the directions again because you just did this!)

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

I've always loved the look of nautical flags. They're awesome pops of color and they're made up of sewn color blocked pieces that convey a message to other boats, what more could you ask for? I wanted to play with the sweet coloration of these flags as well as add my own designs and color combos.

I attached a mini eyelet to each flag to give it that nautical feel and for easy hanging

They're great decor items as individual flags or as a string of them to brighten up a room

These flags will be on display and for purchase at our booth #10 at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago September 8 + 9 (sat + sun) on Division st. in Wicker Park 11am-7pm both days.

I also made a special flag for the fair:

Look for our free temporary tattoo flag and stop in to peep some awesome flags and score a totally killer tattoo.